Forbidden Encounters

"Delaney."

The very moment the word exited his lips, the fear she felt before seemed like nothing compared to the terror she felt coursing through her body and blood now.

"Just....kill me now..." She thought to herself, pure panic running through her thoughts.

She knew of the Delaney pack. What pack in North America—hell—the world, hadn't? She remembered hearing about them back in Ontario. The Delaney pack was by far the most notorious pack in all of the Northern Hemisphere. It was by no means the biggest territory or numbers wise, but they were the strongest pack lead by an equally ruthless Alpha.

In the past, she had heard that they were an older pack as well, starting somewhere in Russia, Germany, or Ireland; no one really knew, they were so old, but those were the guesses. Jessica heard of the pack wars they've been in. They almost always won, and even when they didn't, it's probably because the Delaney Alpha spared them, or at least figured he didn't want to "play" with them any more.

Fortunately, they rarely got into any turf wars, for if they had, they could easily have taken over half the nation, or at the very, very least, a few states.

She did a slow glance at the leader from the corner of her eye.

This had to be him.

The Alpha.

His scent radiated of it, his power easily stronger than that of her old Alphas in Quebec. The thought saddened her in her already fear-stained heart.

Why is it that bad Alphas were always stronger than her own good ones? Even she didn't know the outcome of the Revolt in Ontario; she was long gone by then. She looked back down again; her furiously heart beating was an ever beating reminder of what predicament she was in.

She glanced up again, this time, out the window. A clearing and a Ranger Station was in sight. Where they going to stop there?

No.

Conroy merely rolled down his window, letting the man at the station see him. Giving him a nod, Conroy rolled up the window and drove passed. Jessica gulped again as they turned off onto a hidden trail. The trail was easily hidden by trees as they went through the mountains before coming up against large fences that seemed to appear from nowhere.

When she looked through either window, she saw the fencing that seemed to camouflage with the sounding trees and wilderness, having no trouble hiding in the snow either. She felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest and leave her as the fences soundlessly opened for the pick up to drove through, and shut tightly behind them.

They were here now.

Her wolf knew it. She knew it. She renewed her trembling with vigor; she didn't think she could cry any more. It was time to face one of the most basic rules that every lone or rogue wolf must face:

Join the pack or die.

The Delaney Compound.

As they went further in, Jessica saw it, fear never once left her heart, especially as the pick up came to a stop. She was trembling again, her eyes even shook in terror as the two next to her and Emanuel got out the car, the light brown/dirty blonde grabbing her arm and dragging her out, this time with less care. She squeaked slightly in pain of her arm, biting her lip to hold in the rest. Though it wasn't going to be ripped from the socket—she hoped—she knew that she was definitely going to have a third bruise to add to her other ones.

"Go park the truck, Conroy," The leader of them told him, who nodded and went to go park it, "Marco, Emanuel, let's go."

They both nodded and followed him into the compound. Jessica struggled to keep up with them, not having much other choices and her arm stung in pain if she didn't.

As they passed the homes—which seemed to make a small town on its own—she smelt and saw other wolves in their human, wolf, and Anthro forms: males, females, and pups alike. They all had eyes on her, each smelling her way, curious of her.

Yet, their serious looks and some of their scowls, even from the pups, the place told her that the Delaney pack lived up to its name somehow.

All too soon, she saw what looked like the manor house of the compound; it was easily bigger than most of the other buildings. It had to be where the Alpha lived. She didn't even get to gasp as she was drug up the rust colored marble front steps harshly, nearly tripping, barely managing to catch herself before being pulled again. She could see the icy white and maroon interior through the glass panels with the decorative wrought-iron inlay.

As they opened the large mahogany doors, she was pulled through, catching what she could of the house. In truth there was little color to it all past the different shades of brown and white. They sharply turned a corner before opening a pair of large wooden doors to an empty study. The leader growled slightly, causing Jessica to shake, just barely retaining anything that she felt. How was she going to get out of this?

"Looking for someone, brother?"

An almost monotone female voice appeared behind them, causing Jessica to finally let out a yelp that she had been holding in the entire time. As they turned, Jessica saw her.

The woman had medium colored skin and light brown/dirty blonde hair like the leader, her brother, in which she wore up in a messy bun. She wore a loose black pencil skirt, a white zip-front seamed blouse, and black Steve Madden Stokker pumps.

She had an irritated look in her olive green eyes as she walked up to them. She looked at Jessica with the same harsh eyes, making Jessica quickly lower her eyes again. She didn't like this...

"Who the hell's this, Keric?" The woman spoke to the leader, her scent telling Jessica she was not pleased.

"Her name is Jessica. We found her wondering around in Jackson," Keric told her as she passed them, making her way into the study with elegance and authority, and sat down in the chair.

They walked into the study, but the woman focused her stern eyes on Marco and Emanuel. They both quickly stopped moving forward and bowed their heads, turning to leave and closing the door behind them.

Jessica swallowed in the silence, a lump starting to form there before the female spoke up, "Sit down and relax, puppy. I'm not going to bite unless I feel like it."

Jessica quickly nodded and sat down, fear and anxiety not leaving her immediately like the woman insisted.

The female didn't even give a slight snicker like most would have. No clock ticking, no creaking, no sniffing. Not even a sound from the other side of the room's walls.

Nothing. Just the still air.

The silence only continued for a moment longer before the female spoke again, "My name Adeline Delaney. I am the Madame Alpha of the Delaney pack if you haven't figured it out. My brother told me you're a lone omega, and for 14 years too. That's quite impressive. But that doesn't answer why. Why were you in Jackson?"

Jessica's trembles worsted, feeling the harsh tone in Adeline's voice. She knew better than to lie to wolves. Unlike humans, they could easily smell both deceit and emotions. She probably reeked of fear in the car just as much as she did now.

She sat up in her seat and cleared her throat as best she could, "I...I did not know that there was a wolf pack in Jackson. All I was going to do...w-was make my way west, to Hawaii or the Pacific Islands. When I came here, I scented no wolves, so I continued to do what I needed to survive."

"Why all the way out west? Why not join a pack?" Adeline continued to question the harshness unrelenting.

"...Be...because I chose not to," Jessica bit her lip as her words came out almost in a whisper.

Adeline and Keric both shifted in their seats. Adeline folder her fingers together, her elbows on the desk and her eyes narrowed, making her even more intimidating to Jessica, "You chose...not to? Which pack did you belong to before you were lone, puppy?"

"I...belonged to three packs before I chose to be lone, Alpha. I was a part of the Oakens pack in Pennsylvania—"

Both of the Alphas growled lowly at the mention of the name, causing Jessica to break out in sweat, her eyes shifting fearfully, but fortunately, both stopped, probably sensing and seeing her renewed tenseness. Adeline waved her hand once calming down, "...Carry on, puppy."

"I-I was," Jessica cleared her throat again and shifted in her chair uncomfortably, "I was also a part of the Stenpryde pack in—"

"Stenpryde?" Adeline growled out the name in fury, "That Canadian pack?"

"Y-yes," Jessica whispered, shaking in fear of the female Alpha's anger.

It was silent for awhile as Adeline was calming down once again. Jessica continued to tremble, her nerves were too high strung to relax. She was scared to say anymore. This was the Delaney pack here, and they now knew she was a part of those two packs before. Would they kill her by association? If Adeline or Keric so wished to, they could kill or have Jessica be killed right now without another word being said. What would happen if she said her original pack's name? Would she freak out or would she murder? Either way would sound like the Delaney way of doing things.